Richard Webster (athlete)

Dick Webster
Personal information
NationalityBritish (English)
Born31 December 1914
St Albans, England[1]
Died28 September 2009 (aged 94)
Sport
ClubAchilles Club (Oxbridge alumni)
Milocarian Athletic Club

Frederick Richard Webster (31 December 1914 – 28 September 2009) was a British Army officer (brigadier) and Olympic pole vaulter.

Biography

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Educated at Bedford School and Christ's College, Cambridge, Webster competed in both the 1936 Olympics and the 1948 Olympics. He held the British pole vaulting record between 1936 and 1950.

He also competed for England in the pole vault at the 1934 British Empire Games in London and four years later he competed for England at the 1938 British Empire Games in the pole vault again.[2]

He won the 1936, 1939 and 1948 pole vault event at the prestigious AAA Championships[3] and British champion in 1938.[4]

Personal life

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Webster served as an officer in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War, was evacuated from Dunkirk, and fought in North Africa and Italy.[1] After the war, he worked as a military instructor in Egypt, retiring from the army with the rank of brigadier in 1967.[1] Following his retirement, he worked as a farmer in South Africa.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Dick Webster". Olympedia. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Athletes and Results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  3. ^ "British Athletics Championships 1919-1939". GBR Athletics.
  4. ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 14 July 2024.